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Mathematics Resources

study of mathematics equips students with knowledge, skills, and habits of mind that are essential to successfully and fully participate in society. Mathematics requires individuals to think critically about complex issues, analyze and adapt to new situations, solve problems of various kinds and communicate their thinking effectively.

Ontario Mathematics Curriculum​

​Literacy Resources, Tips and Strategies for Parents/Guardians

Explore the resources below to support your child’s literacy learning and development. These resources are intended to add to the strategies that may be shared by your child’s school and complement the many things you already do to support your child in being successful at school.​

Summer Learning Packages

Kindergarten to Grade 1 Grade 1 to Grade 2 Grade 2 to Grade 3

​Supporting Math Learning at Home​

Please explore the resources below for ideas to help support your child’s math learning and development. These resources are intended to add to the strategies that may be shared by your child’s teacher or school as well as the many things you already do to support your child in being successful.​

The word parent(s) is used throughout the materials below to refer to parent(s) and guardian(s).

Activities & Games​

  • Read together. Look for math in books (e.g., counting, patterns). Ask, “How many do you see...how do you know?” 
  • Find math in everyday life - at home and outside (e.g., How many blocks long is our kitchen table?, look for and make patterns, find and sort objects).
  • Play board games, math games with cards or dice, do puzzles together.
  • Encourage your child to count any items they show interest in counting, and move, touch or point to items as they count. 
  • Use counting during games, such as Hide-and-Seek. 
  • Look for number symbols all around you: on a remote control for the television, on a telephone,  on the microwave, on signs...
  • Gather different containers and boxes from around the home. Ask your child to decide how they might put them in order (e.g., tallest to shortest, heaviest to lightest).
  • Pick an object in the room and give your child instructions to help them find the object. Use directional language such as up, down, over, under, between,, beside, behind, in front of and on top of. Take turns and have your child give you directions.
  • Play math versions of “I Spy.” 
    • “I spy something that is rectangular,” “I spy something that has a sphere.” You can make this game more challenging by including two shapes: “I spy something that is square and has a triangle on it.”
    • “I spy something in this room that there are five of,” or “I spy something that has the number three on it.
  • Sort different items. 
    • Think of a simple sorting rule (e.g., everything in the group is round or everything in the collection is red), and sort some items according to the rule. Ask your child to guess the rule. Take turns and have your child choose a rule.
    • Sort cutlery by type, markers by colour, materials for the recycling box, or items in the cupboard or closet.
    • Ask your child how they sorted the items, and discuss: “How are the objects the same? Different?” “Can you sort these another way?”​

Helpful Math Websites

​​Activities & Games

  • ​ ​​​Find math in everyday life (e.g., different ways to see numbers, explore money, counting bricks on a building, organize items in nature, track your steps, look for patterns.
  • Play board games, math games with cards or dice, do puzzles together.
  • Gather collections of items (e.g., rocks, blocks, buttons). Have your child count larger groups of items in different ways (by 2s, 5s or 10s in Grade 1; by 20s, 25s and 50s in Grade 2; by 50s, 100s, and 200 in Grade 3). 
  • Gather different containers and boxes from around the home. Ask your child to decide how they might put them in order (e.g., tallest to shortest, heaviest to lightest, can hold the most and the least).
  • With your child, measure how long it takes to: walk to the park to get to school, eat meals, get ready for bed or play a game. You might use a clock or stopwatch.
  • When you are shopping, have your child keep a running total of how much you are spending by using prices rounded to the nearest whole dollar (e.g., they might use strategies like counting on by ones or tens).
  • Look for patterns in daily life. Your child might notice repeating, growing or shrinking patterns (e.g., around your home, on clothing, in nature, in routines, etc.)
  • Have your child sort items into two groups: those that have a certain characteristic and those that do not (for example, foods that must be kept in the refrigerator and those that do not). Discuss their thinking and ask, “How did you decide to sort these?” “How are these items the same/different?” “How might you sort them another way?”
  • Find more ideas for keeping math skills strong over the summer in the HDS​B ​Kindergarten (Yr 2) to Grade 1 Summer Learning Package, the HDSB Grade 1 to Grade 2 Summer Learning Package, and the HDSB ​Grade 2 to Grade 3 Summer Learning Package​. In these packages you will find:
    • an introductory letter for families
    • July and August calendars of fun activities to do with children
    • additional math activities and games
    • reference pages to support number formation​

Helpful Math Resoucres

Activities & Games

  • Find math in everyday life (e.g., explore time changes and currency exchange, plan a trip budget, track a journey on a map, explore fractions when cooking).
  • Play! - board games, math games with cards or dice, do puzzles together
  • Look for situations involving proportional thinking in real life. Have your child explain his or her thinking. (E.g., A store has a sale for $20 off one item over $50 or 20% off on 2 or more items. Which is a better deal? How do you know? )
  • Explore various interest rates, fees and/or rewards for different accounts, loans and/or credit cards from a variety of financial institutions or companies. Ask your child which card, account and/or loan is the best option given their financial goals.
  • Analyse different sets of data presented in various ways, including in circle graphs, scatter plots and in misleading graphs. Ask your child questions about the data, challenging preconceived notions, and drawing conclusions. Based on your discussion, ask them to make convincing arguments and informed decisions related to their conclusions.

Helpful Math Website

  • CEMC Real World Math Problems- Explore real-world problems being solved by mathematicians.
  • Estimation 180 - Estimation challenges to support number sense and problem solving. 
  • Math Before Bed - Visuals and prompts to spark great math discussion. 
  • NRICH - Interesting tasks and games that provoke mathematical thinking.
  • Same or Different and Same but Different - Look at the two images and discuss: What is the same? What is different? 
  • Which One Doesn’t Belong? - Look at the four images. Which one doesn’t belong? Challenge: Can you find a reason why each one doesn’t belong? (Hint: there are a variety of different answers!)

Activities & Games

  • Find math in everyday life (e.g., explore currency exchange, graph temperature, maintain a budget, plan a journey on a map, fractions and cooking).
  • Make connections between math and possible careers and post-secondary programs.
  • Play board games, math games with cards or dice, and do puzzles together.
  • Discuss and interpret data and statistics in the media, including how it is represented in different ways.
  • Explore making financial decisions, including unit rates (e.g., comparing cost per item) when making purchases at the grocery store or gas station.​

Helpful Math Websites

Thank you for your partnership! If you have any questions about your child’s development in literacy, please reach out to your child’s teacher.​